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The Sanitary accommodation at the church and private schools
has been modernised, as far as practicable and the buildings extended
and adapted for modern requirements as far as the sites will allow.
The medical inspection of the school children is under the control
of the Public Health Department of the Middlesex County Council and
I feel certain that this has contributed in no small degree to the
District's enjoyment of the freedom from serious epidemic infectious
diseases during the past five years. The system of inter-notification
of infectious disease between, school teachers,,school attendance
officer, District Medical Officer of Health and School Medical service
has worked well and there has been no need to close schools on
account of infectious disease, during the past five or six years.
PREVALENCE OF AND CONTROL OVER INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
Scarlet fever.
This disease has been of a very mild type for many years past
and there has not been a death from it since 1920. The mortality
from it throughout the country appears to be gradually decreasing
being ten times greater in 1920 than in 1925. The average length
of treatment in hospital has been halved being now about 3 weeks.
This early discharge has had no appreciable effect on the incidence
of the disease in this district and there have not been any so called
"Return cases". In 1924 the Ministry of Health appointed a departmental
committee to encuire into the incidence, treatment of, and mortality
from this disease and it is with interest we await the report of
that committee. From my replies to the questionaire sent out by that
Committee I find that there has been only 15 deaths from this disease
in 38 years. The extreme mildness of this disease of late years has
made it very difficult to diagnose, many cases must occur in which
no medical practitioner is consulted, and this is a possible explanation
of the sporadic manner in which the disease now shows itself,
these missed cases being the foci of infection.
Diphtheria.
This disease has been of a very mild type in this district for
several years past and there has been only one death since 1920,
During 1925 no less than four cases were "carriers" only and in two
instances the disease notified as such was proved not to be diphtheria.
Of the 24 cases notified, 21 were removed to hospital the average
length of stay in hosnital being 36 days. The mortality from this
disease throughout the country is steadily declining, but it is still
about three times greater than that from Scarlet Fever.
Typhoid Fever.
The district is practically free from this disease and those
cases that do occur are of a very mild. type. The two cases notified
in the district were removed to hospital and were discharged after
26 and 32 days respectively, We still get a few cases of this disease
of a severe type amongst the inmates of the Mental Hospital and the
three cases notified from this Institution during the year all proved
fatal,
Pneumonia.
57 Cases were notified during the year of which 47 occurred in
the mental hospital. No administrative action is taken on the
notification of this disease and it is difficult to see what useful
purpose is served by the notification.